Look up a property ID or keyword

With over 1,000 offices across 11 countries, one of our 12,000
specialists are ready to discuss your property needs.

3 unusual ways to keep it green while redecorating your property

When you’re looking at updating your real estate, you might decide to be extra responsible to the environment this time around. Everybody knows about installing solar panels and water tanks, but what are some of the less well-known ways to reduce your impact on the environment during a redecorating spree?

Here are just three weird and unique ways you can keep it green while updating your real estate design.

1) Update your paint

There are still a number of paints out there that contain environmentally unfriendly materials.

Repainting your interiors, exteriors or even your roof could be on the agenda for this autumn, but did you know that the wrong paint can make a serious impact on the environment? While thankfully the days of lead-based paints are almost completely behind us in the modern age, there are still a number of products out there that contain environmentally unfriendly materials. Volatile organics compounds, or VOCs, can present a real danger to the environment.

Thankfully, however, there are plenty of brands that offer either a zero VOC or a low-VOC option, so be sure to inquire about this before deciding on a particular can of paint.

The next level: If you really want to cut costs and help the environment, you could investigate heat-reflective paint for your roof. GreenPainters describes how this kind of paint could eliminate up to 40 per cent of the cost of cooling for a given home: that’s 25 per cent of total energy use. It cuts costs and keeps your design green – what’s not to love?

2) Re-use and recycle

There are quite a few ways you can re-use or recycle your furniture. An old coffee table could be hollowed out and repurposed into an outdoor planter with a quick lick of waterproof paint, while an old door can make a very chic headboard for your master bedroom.

However, better yet is reusing what someone else has thoughtlessly thrown away. Keep an eye out for garage sales and snatch up even ratty-looking furniture. Restoring these old treasures keep them out of the dump, making Mother Nature happy, while also giving you a weekend project and, of course, a great piece of unique furniture!

The next level: If you’re feeling really ambitious, you might even want to breakdown some old furniture and reforge it into something completely new. The sky is the limit for this one, so get creative with those raw materials.

3) Stay passive

If you really want to make the most of natural temperature control, you might want to get a qualified architect in.

If you’re doing a big redesign, it pays to be aware of the latest methods in keeping your home both practical and fashionable. Concrete and raw stone is massively on-trend at the moment, but they also factor extremely well into passive design.

Seek out the sunny spots in your home and consider putting down some heat-absorbing rocky flooring. Natural stone or concrete can absorb much of the heat the sun can throw down, and then release it later in the evening when it’s cooler. This reduces your energy use (and costs!) by eliminating some of the artificial heating and cooling that would otherwise be required in your home.

The next level: Passive design can also rely heavily on air flow. If you really want to make the most of natural temperature control, you might want to get a qualified architect in and see how you can adjust the structure of your home. It’s a big step, but it has benefits to your utility bills as well as to the environment.

Remember, it’s perfectly possible to stay fashionable and still help protect the environment – it just takes a little bit of knowledge, care and creativity! For more tips and tricks on making the most of your property, check out the rest of the articles on the Ray White blog.